A Family in Time
by Redfeatherquill5690
Summary: Through an unfortunate accident, Harry and his children, James and Lily, find themselves back in time before the Second Wizardry War starts. With no way back they grieve the lost of the life they once knew while building a new one amidst familiar faces. Harry finds it difficult to balance his childhood adventures and his own children in a world he knows is slowly falling apart.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Another new story... I just can't help myself!

 **Chapter 1: The Accident**

"What are you two doing?" Harry asked after entering his office finding his youngest and oldest hovering over his desk.

"Nothing…" Lily said looking the innocent. Harry wasn't falling for it. James was doing a better job at looking nonchalant but one hand was hidden behind his back, a dead giveaway to the very experienced auror and father that he was hiding something. Doing a quick glance around the room Harry was able to determine there were no WWW products lying in wait for the unsuspecting (and slightly paranoid) father.

"Where's your mother?" Harry asked assessing both his children not wanting to accuse them of wrong doing before knowing the full details.

"She took Albus to Diagon Ally to pick up a few things." James explained, his hand fidgeting with whatever was behind his back. "She said she was bringing back dinner."

Harry was going to inquire more but then he noticed something out of place. The box on his desk was open and empty, the box that held the time-turner Hermione had given him. Damn him for leaving it in the open like that.

"Give it to me James." Harry used his stern father tone and extended his hand. James shuffled in place looking like he was going to claim innocence but he knew that tone. He had learned at a young age that when his father used that tone things were serious. James handed over the time turner. "You two know better than to mess with things in my office. This is a very dangerous object."

"I thought all the time turners were destroyed." James asked curiously hoping to curve his father's anger and distract him as Lily edged around their father to disable the trap they had set. They weren't supposed to be in the room when it went off. They had been distracted by the time-turner and didn't expect their father to come back so soon.

"They were… this one is special." Harry said eyeing his children once again suspiciously. Usually at this point his children would scatter hoping to get out of the line of fire which Harry was willing to let them given the stack of paperwork waiting for him at this desk. "You two had better get your chores done before your mother gets home or I will tell her you were sneaking in my office again." Harry grabbed the handle to the door intending to usher his children out of his office.

"No Dad!" Both Lily and James lunged for their father hoping to stop him from opening the door which was trapped with a proto-type product Uncle George had given them. Whatever the prank was supposed to do the Potters would never find out. The proto-type exploded instead, which in normal circumstances would have just left a destroyed door and some ash covered faces, nothing new and fixable in the Potter household, but Harry was holding a precious time turner. It slipped from his fingers, spinning in the air, and crashed to the floor.

"Where are we?" James asked, his head spinning as if he had just been ejected from a portkey.

"Are you two alright?" Harry asked getting up and assessing the situation. They were in a familiar open field with a broken old house, its windows shattered and yard completely covered in weeds. To call the place a fixer upper would be generous.

"I'm okay." Lily said inspecting a charred spot on her blouse frowning. "I don't think that was supposed to happen. I'm going to kill Uncle George! This was my favorite shirt."

"Dad?" James looked to his father, who was scouting the area, his wand in the ready position. James took out his own wand but didn't sense any danger. "Where are we?" James asked again once his father seemed to relax, looking up at the run down house.

"I think the more appropriate question is when?" Harry answered looking at the house he thought he would only see again in picture and memory. "This is what home looked like before your mother and I were married. You see the stain glass windows. That's our future sitting room."

"Wow." Lily looked at the house with different eyes now.

"What a dump." James said looking at the overgrown, dead orchard next to the house which was later torn down and made into a nice quiddtich practice field. "You really lived here while it was looking like this?"

"Well, Uncle Bill helped me get the place into a livable condition before moving in but yeah…" Harry smiled. "Some of my best memories were in this 'dump'. There is something to be said about building a home from just sturdy foundations." And the foundations were just about the only thing original to the house. Other than the stain glass windows nothing looked familiar to the children. The office they had been standing in before the explosion was an expansion when Harry and Ginny became pregnant with Lily. Her bedroom sat above Harry's office.

"Can we go inside?" Lily asked excitedly. Harry knew that he should be chastising his children for the prank they had tried to pull on him but this was a rare opportunity for them and if Hermione had been correct, they only had a few more minutes in this time before the time turner would send them back. He was never good at disciplining his children, his wife constantly had to be the bad guy.

"We have a few minutes before we're sent back." Harry approved. "But be careful, there are a lot of rotted boards in there." Lily and James ran to the front door which was hanging off the hinges. Lilly grimaced at the cobwebs hanging in the window but both were Gryffindors and a few spiders weren't going to stop them.

"Wow, this place really does look different." James said pealing some of the crumbling wallpaper off the wall. "Isn't this where the bathroom is?" James was standing in an alcove off the 'kitchen' that was originally meant to be for a small dining area. Harry smiled as the memories flooded back to him. He had used the small alcove as his bedroom until Bill and he could stabilize the upper floor.

"Yup," Harry said, "That is also where I proposed to your mother." Let the children think that it was a well-planned out proposal at the kitchen table and not a spur of the moment thing after making passionate love.

"How romantic." Lily said sarcastically grimacing, not noticing the stupid grin on her father's face; or perhaps she was too young to understand. James, being almost 16, chose to ignore the stupid grin, not wanting to think about his parents that way.

After a few more minutes of exploring the ruin that was their future home, Harry looked down at his watch. It had been ten minutes since they landed in this time. He couldn't remember the specific time Hermione had told him but a bad feeling started churning in Harry's stomach. He went back outside where they had appeared. Searching the ground for the time piece proved to be futile. Perhaps Hermione had been wrong and it took longer than a few minutes… Harry's stomach churned again. He could count on one hand the number of times Hermione had been wrong.

"Is everything okay dad?" James had come out of the house, Lily trailing behind him.

"Are you guys hungry?" Harry asked in the calmest voice he could. There was no need to alarm of something wrong, after all he didn't know that something was actually wrong… but every second they didn't pop back into their time Harry's panic grew. Not that he would let his kids see it. "There's this little café in the village that closed down just before Albus was born. Your mother cried for three days after they closed. Don't tell her I told you that though." Harry's kids may not be Ravenclaw material but they were far from stupid. They gave each other apprehensive looks before taking their father's arms. Harry apparated them away from the only home they had known.

The village was smaller than even Harry remembered. There was still a gas station on the corner at the exit of town but it had changed owners, the brand was unfamiliar to Harry. The little café Harry remembered was kiddy-corner to the gas station. The parking lot was empty at the moment but it was a little early for the dinner rush. Harry ushered the kids inside. The place looked new, everything was white instead of the slightly yellow Harry remembered. The menus were pristine and the waitress was quick to get the kids some water and a pot of coffee for Harry. There was a television behind the café bar showing the nightly news but otherwise the place was empty and silent.

James and Lily started hissing at each other. Harry ignored them. All three of his children were gifted with parseltounge. It frightened Ginny the first time she heard Albus speaking to a snake in the garden. Discrete tests were done and it didn't take long for them to discover that Lily and James had the gift as well. The Potters kept it a family secret but at home Lily, James and Albus would have hissed conversations to each other… they didn't need to know that Harry and Ginny both, having had the gift at some point in their lives could understand them even if they could not speak the language or to snakes themselves anymore.

"He's doing it again." Lily hissed.

"He's worried about something." James hissed back. They were discussing the way Harry was staring into his cup of coffee, his finger circling the rim. Harry did this when he was contemplating something big, like a hard case at work or ministry politics. "We aren't supposed to be here still."

"What do you mean?" Lily hissed. It was hard to put emotion in hissing but somehow Lily managed it; she was scared.

"That's enough you two." Harry said as the waitress brought two plates of food to the table. Harry had only enough muggle money on him for two dinners. He had a decent amount of wizard money on him but until he knew how long they were going to be here and when they exactly were he would avoid the wizarding world. The last thing he needed was for someone to recognize him.

Harry stared into his coffee once more, the children silently eating. What was he going to do if they were stuck here? Could he get a message to the future somehow? Perhaps hide something in the house… but how would Ginny know to look there at this precise time. He could write a letter and send it in the post with instructions to deliver it only at the right time. Harry sighed. The muggle post was unreliable in the best of circumstances and he would need to entrust the letter with someone in the wizarding world to get it to them through owl. Harry had no trust in either of those options. Something caught Harry's attention away from his coffee…

"… The public is warned that Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately." The newscaster reported. Harry turned around in his chair to see the picture of his godfather on the screen. He had forgotten the first time he had seen his godfather had been on a muggle television. He had also forgotten how grizzly Sirius looked in that picture, choosing to remember him as he was at Grimmauld Place or the picture he had of him and his father before Sirius had gone to Azkaban.

Harry sighed when the report turned to a different story. At least he knew when they were, not that knowing this piece of information comforted him in any way. Turning back around, he surveyed his children. Lily was picking at her food but James was watching him, a frown on his face.

"We're not supposed to be here still." James stated this time in English. Lily stopped picking at her food and looked to her father. Harry took a deep breath before answering.

"No." Harry kept the response short not trusting his voice to keep the emotions he was feeling at bay.

"The time turner didn't come through with us." James stated.

"No." Harry confirmed.

"It probably broke in the explosion." James was working through what Harry had already figured out.

"Probably." Harry said sipping on his coffee.

"Which means when they see it they'll know what happened and come get us?" James concluded. Harry shook his head.

"They wouldn't even know where to start looking. It's like a needle in a hay stack." Harry answered. "An endless time of haystack."

"So we tell someone and they'll know when." James said.

"The moment we interact with someone we change the future James." Harry replied.

"So we send a letter or get a message to someone without telling anyone." James voice was more insistent. He was starting to panic, coming to the conclusion Harry already had.

"I already have the intention of doing so." Harry explained. "But by having the intention someone should have already come through that door." Harry, James and Lily all looked at the door as the bell chimed. In walked an older couple. The waitress greeted them and sat them at one of the tables. Lily started to cry.

"There has to be something we can do." James said his voice cracking with emotion. Both children understood now what coming here meant. It meant never going back, never seeing their friends or family ever again; at least not in the same way as they remembered.

Lily leaned into her brother's side and he put his arm around her. Harry grabbed his son's hand firmly across the table hoping to convey some form of comfort.

"I don't know." Harry said, his voice betraying him and shaking. "But I don't think so." A tear fell down Harry's cheek. James's hand gripped his father's tighter. Tears fell freely as father and son stared at each other in grief, hanging on to the only thing they had left in the world.

 **A/N:** Yeah, yeah, another time travel story. I enjoy messing with the world JK Rowling has created. Let me know what you think. I think I'll post the next chapter in the next day or two...


	2. Chapter 2

Remus entered the pub cautiously. It was busy; the weekends usually were, especially with the kids out of school. Remus looked at each table trying to see if he recognized anyone. He didn't except Old Lewi, who was a regular at the Leaky Cauldron, and Tom behind the bar. Remus took a seat at the bar facing the door.

He should have taken the letter straight to the aurors. He should have at least told someone he was coming, but the wolf inside him kept reminding him that _He_ was a part of the pack and you don't betray the pack. Remus growled. Truthfully, Remus wanted to know why Black did it, why he had betrayed his best friends. Remus knew the aurors would never let him speak to the traitor, just like last time. This was a second chance to get closure… and maybe some revenge.

The letter had arrived yesterday by paid post owl. The handwriting was unfamiliar but he understood the message.

 **Moony**

 **You know the magic words**

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Remus said shakily. Why would Black send this to him? Didn't he know how much Remus hated him? The words began changing on the letter.

 **Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron as soon as you can.**

 **Things are not always as they appear. P**

"What can I get you Remus?" Tom asked, bringing Remus out of his musings.

"Just the usual, Tom." Tom popped the top of a butter beer and placed it in front of Remus. Remus once had a problem with firewhiskey. After _That Night_ he had essentially tried to drown himself in it. Surprisingly it was Snape who snapped him out of it. Snape had found him piss drunk at the Hogs Head and followed him out to the alley, pinning him against the wall.

"You are the only one he has left!" Snape hissed at him. "Don't let him grow up not knowing who his parents were." Snape dropped him and left without saying another word.

Since then Remus drank nothing stronger than butterbeer with only one exception. Every Halloween he would visit James and Lily's grave and pour two glasses. One for him and one for the friends he had lost: James, Lily, Peter and even Sirius. He would down his and pour the other on the grave at his feet, promising that one day Harry would know everything.

"Are you Remus Lupin?" A small voice said next to him. Remus looked at the girl, barely Hogwarts age, trying to get his attention. She had red hair, brown eyes, and looked a little familiar. Her shoulders were slumped slightly and there was a definite frown on her lips. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying.

"Yes," Remus answered. "Is there something wrong?"

"Follow me." She said before going to the stairs that lead to the rooms above the bar. Remus tensed. Was Black using this little girl somehow? Was he hurting her? Is that why she was crying? Remus looked around to see if anyone else was watching the girl, a worried mother perhaps. He only saw a dark-haired bus boy wiping one of the tables, looking between him and the girl on the stairs. When Remus met eyes with him the boy nodded his head in the girl's direction before going back to work. Remus started toward the stairs and the little girl began climbing.

Whatever Remus was expecting it wasn't this. He readied his wand. 'Things are not always as they appear' flashed through his mind.

The girl was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. When she was sure he was following, she continued down the hallway to the last door on the right. She knocked softly before opening the door. "He's here." She said to whoever was on the other side. Remus gripped his wand tighter. "Hurry up." The girl said impatiently when she saw Remus wasn't even half way down the hallway. She entered the room. Remus followed.

A man stood at the window looking out at the busy street of Diagon Ally. When he turned around Remus gasped. "James?" The man sighed in resignation.

"No." The James-look-alike said. "Look closer." Remus was already studying the man further. His hair was dark with fewer grey hairs than Remus and had the windswept look that James sported all through Hogwarts. The man's mouth, now in a frown reminiscent of Professor McGonagall, looked like it could break into the smile and laugh Remus only saw in his memories. He couldn't believe what he was seeing but now that he looked closer; James's nose had been slightly bigger, his jaw line more square and the eyes... Those bright green eyes he had only seen on one other person; actually, make that two. But it couldn't be. Something in Remus's body language must have showed his disbelief.

"Lily, go downstairs with James." The man said turning his attention to the little girl still in the room. She had perched herself on the dresser and was looking between the two men curiously.

"But Dad…" The little girl began to protest.

"I'm not arguing with you Lily." The man's voice was stern and with just a small huff in protest the little girl hopped off the dresser and left the room, shutting the door behind her. "She is so much like her mother." The man said with a slight chuckle before a look of deep sorrow came over him. He swallowed and looked back at Remus. "Take a seat Remus." The man motioned to one of the armchairs in the room. "I'm sorry about the deceptive letter, but I needed to get your attention."

"I don't understand. What's going on?" Remus said not taking the offered chair. He was expecting to find Black here, not a James look alike with Lily's eyes. The man took a seat in the other armchair, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He looked like a defeated man.

"I'll answer all your questions Remus." The man said weakly. "I'll even take an unbreakable vow if that's what you need because frankly I have no one else to turn to."

"I don't even know who you are." Remus said because he couldn't believe what his own brain was telling him. Even the wolf in him could smell it though, the familiarity.

"Yes, you do." The man said. "When we first met, you told me you recognized me instantly, but not because of my scar like everyone else. You knew me because I looked like James but I have my mother's eyes."

"Harry?" Remus said in disbelief. "But how…? What...? Why…?"

"Time turner accident." Harrys said answering all of Remus's questions at once. "Currently there is a 13-year-old Harry Potter on Privet Drive not having the best week if I recall." Harry grimaced, remembering the image of the blown up 'Aunt' Marge. "Remus, you are soon going to find out that my life… Harry's life, is anything but normal. This is just one of many strange occurrences that have happened to me… or will happen."

Remus kept his guard up, wand at the ready. The story was ridiculous, so unbelievable that Remus couldn't understand why anyone would use it. Black may have been the mastermind behind a lot of the Marauders more extravagant pranks at Hogwarts but he could never pull them off without James and Remus's help with Peter as the distraction. And yet, Remus could not think of anyone else who would go to all this trouble…and to what end? Remus didn't have anything worth taking. He had no contact with the 'real' Harry Potter so if this was some death eater trick to somehow get to the real Harry Potter it was poorly thought out. But then… poorly thought out did fit Black's profile.

"How do I know you're not Black trying to trick me?" Remus asked eyes narrow. Harry chuckled.

"Well, for one, you and I both know that Sirius isn't smart enough to come up with a plan like this." Harry started. "Second, you know Sirius's scent and you also know mine. I can't imagine you could mistake it, I don't smell like wet dog. And third," Remus was distracted by all the information this stranger revealed to know about the Marauders with that one sentence or he would have reacted sooner to the man taking out his wand and casting a spell. "Expecto Patronum."

Remus was about to cast his own spell in defense when he saw the silvery mist form into an image he never thought he would see again. "Prongs." Remus whispered slowly, falling disbelievingly into the chair.

Remus took a few minutes to comprehend everything this 'Harry' had told him so far. The man clearly wasn't Black, Black's patronus being a big dog like his animagus form. Remus was aware that patronuses could change but he doubted Black's would change into the man he helped murder.

"You know Sirius well?" Remus asked, the name feeling foreign on his tongue. Sirius was the school friend he wanted to remember but Black had killed him just as he had killed James and Lily. Harry nodded silently. "Why would Harry think of Sirius Black as anything other than his parents betrayer?"

"Sirius was…" Harry paused, "Sirius is not the man you think he is. The night my parents were murdered and the events that followed were not handled very well. I spent most of my childhood figuring out how incompetent the Ministry was and all my adulthood trying to change that. Think about that night Remus, doesn't anything about it seem wrong to you?"

Remus could think of a hundred things that were wrong about that night, all of his friends dying being the most prominent. This man was smart, letting Remus point out the inconsistencies gave him a chance to come up with the excuses needed to fit his story; excuses Remus was too ready to hear.

"Black was James and Lily's secret keeper." Remus instead pointed out the fact that couldn't be denied. "James never would have picked anyone else."

"Which is what everyone was expecting," Harry countered quickly, "and one of the main reasons why Sirius told my parents to pick someone else. Someone they trusted just like a brother as well but no one would look at twice. Sirius was the decoy."

"Peter." Remus whispered, connecting the pieces. Why did Peter go after Sirius by himself that night? A question, among many, Remus thought he would never get an answer to. Was it in fact Sirius who tracked Peter down? If Peter was the actual secret keeper and Sirius knew, it was not a giant leap the figure out how that night played out. It made more sense actually. "Why wouldn't Sirius tell anyone?"

"Who would believe him?" Harry answered. "Dumbledore had branded him a traitor, his family was full of sympathizers and death eaters, and all his friends and allies were too stuck in their grief to notice the ruse my parents had set up."

"It doesn't matter if Sirius is a betrayer or not, he still killed all those people." Remus said after a few minutes trying to justify his hatred all these years and lessen the guilt he was feeling. "And I don't see how this correlates to you being Harry Potter from the future."

"If you believe that Sirius isn't a death eater then how do you explain me knowing the things I do. Think about who you would tell the stories of your escapades to." It was a cheap shot, the same one that Snape had used on him all those years ago. The patronus Remus saw a few minutes ago seemed to form once again in his minds eye. Prongs looking after his son even after death made a small part of Remus's heart warm that had been left cold all those years ago. He wanted to believe this man.

"Who taught you how to do a patronus?" Remus asked, other than aurors and order members the spell wasn't widely known. The man's smile was the first genuine one Remus saw making him look even more like James.

"You did." Harry said surprising Remus. "This coming Christmas. Dementors effected me more than the other students at Hogwarts. I asked you for lessons on fending them off and as my Defense teacher you were happy to help."

"I turned down the teaching position." Remus was confused. What would make him decide to teach at Hogwarts against all his better judgement? And why was he even considering these man's words? Time travel as he was claiming was impossible… wasn't it? "Clearly you don't know much about the future." The man looked confused himself but shook his head.

"I'm not sure why you change your mind about teaching but I can assure you, you are the best defense teacher I ever had." Harry said with another genuine smile. "Ask me anything Remus, I promise, I won't lie to you."

Remus contemplated the man in front of him. So far the man had seemed genuine and hadn't asked anything of him other than trust, something Remus didn't easily give these days. The story about Sirius and Peter had thrown him for a loop but answered a lot of questions about that night that had haunted him for years. Peter's betrayal would hurt just as much but at least there was some logic behind it. Peter was not a brave soul, at least as Gryffindors usually go, and he could easily see how being in the marauders shadows could turn into resentment. During school Remus was always trying to bridge the gap between James, Sirius, and Peter. Once out of school, Remus never found the time to make sure Peter was included in James and Sirius's plans, Remus actually felt left out a time or two as well.

"The children down stairs, who are they?" Remus asked stalling for time to think through everything and also get to know the man in front of him more.

"James and Lily, my eldest son and daughter." Harry answered letting Remus lead the conversation. "They had decided to pull a prank on me, get one over the old man. Probably my fault for naming my son after two of the most notorious pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen. The product they used backfired and exploded, which wouldn't have been a big deal but I had a modified time turner in my office which broke and sent us here."

"How old are they?" Remus asked.

"Lily is twelve." Harry sighed. "James will be sixteen in September." The last couple of days had been hard for the three of them; coming to terms with everything and everyone being gone.

"Why me?" Remus asked finally coming to the conclusion that if he was going to believe this 'Harry' then he needed to know what exactly was going to be expected of him.

"Because I trust you, more than anyone else in the world right now." Harry explained. "All of my friends are in school, Dumbledore is… well, I don't trust that he won't see me as another pawn if I tell him the truth. You were the only adult I trusted when I was in school, who never called me a liar or attention seeking. My only other option is Sirius, but he's in a worst situation than I am at the moment."

"What exactly do you want from me?" Remus asked.

"Help." Harry stated desperately. "If I was on my own, I would disappear into the mountains and never be seen from again. I wouldn't be here telling you all this vital information for the future and begging for you to trust me. But I'm not alone, my children are downstairs expecting me to make this all better." Harry took a deep breath trying to calm himself, his emotions rising too quickly to the surface. "The time turner didn't come back with us. It won't be invented for another 30 years. I have done everything I can think of to get us back home but as far as I can tell we have no way back to our own time. I don't want my children hiding their entire lives. I want them to have a future and if that future is going to be in this time then I need help to protect them."

Remus finally relaxed his wand. It wasn't all the information this man knew, nor the patronus that convinced Remus that this man was telling the truth. It was the utter honesty and ferocity this man spoke when talking about protecting his children. The last conversation Remus had with James before he went into hiding was much the same.

 _"_ _Lily and I are taking Harry into hiding." James said after finishing his butterbeer and leaving enough coin to cover both his and Remus's tabs. "I don't know when you'll be back from Dumbledore's assignment but I doubt it will be before we're gone. Lily and I have agreed that the fewer people who know where we are going, the better. I couldn't go without at least telling you that we were okay."_

 _"_ _How long are you planning to be gone?" Remus asked not at all surprised at his friends decision. A lot of families were leaving the country, trying to protect their children or fleeing for their lives._

 _"_ _Until the war is over." James said putting on his coat, looking more solemn than Remus had ever seen him before._

 _"_ _That could be years…" Remus whispered finally seeing what this meeting really was; a goodbye. Remus chuckled softly at his stupidity. "You are going to drive Lily insane, leaving the fight to the aurors. What are the hit wizards going to do without their best man?" James chuckled as well, the humor not reaching his eyes._

 _"_ _Probably just hit all those death munchers with stunning spells, no originality." James's expressions turned serious. "I'll do anything it takes to protect my son Remus. He's my world."_

 _"_ _Then I wish you luck friend." Remus said trying not to make James's bowing out any harder on him. Remus held out his hand to his friend but James pulled the man into a brotherly embrace. The two held each other for just a pause longer than was strictly protocol but both knew it could be a long time before they saw each other again._

 _"_ _I'm sorry Remus." James said once they finally separated. "Sirius and I are always doing our separate thing, leaving you behind sometimes. I hope that you know that I will always think of you as a brother, always a part of the pack. Goodbye Moony."_

 _"_ _Goodbye Prongs." Remus whispered as he watched his brother leave the pub._

"Well," Remus said finally coming to a decision. "I don't have much to offer, but whatever you need is yours."

A/N: I hope I didn't put Remus across as too trusting but this isn't the end of Harry and his conversation... just the beginning in fact. Please review if you would like to read more.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Please Read and review. Hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter 3**

"Welcome to my humble abode." Remus said opening the door to the small apartment. To the right was a small kitchen with a table only big enough for two people to sit comfortably. On the left was a small area made smaller by all the full bookshelves that lined the walls. Two armchairs sat in front of the empty fireplace with a small table covered in books, a half finished chess game and Daily Prophets, Sirius's face prominent among them. The only window visible in the apartment was down the small hallway showing a brick wall of the building opposite the alley. "It isn't much… but its home."

"Thank you Remus." Harry said gratefully, ushering his kids into the small apartment. James and Lily looked around the apartment nervously, not sure what to do. Lily clutched onto the backpack she was holding like a teddy bear. The bag contained the only belongings the three of them had: a few extra clothes from the used store in Diagon Ally Mrs Weasley frequented, a couple bars of soap, a pack of spearmint gum (toothbrushes and toothpaste were out of the budget), and a pack of cards for the kids to play with. The rest of the galleons Harry had went to the room at the Leaky Cauldron for the two nights they had stayed and food for the kids. Harry had only eaten what the kids could not finish. Three sickles and five knuts were all that was left in Harry's pocket. He really couldn't thank Remus enough.

"The kids can have the bedroom." Remus said picking up some of the newspapers on the table and neatly stacking them as if tidying up the place but the room didn't look any more disorganized than Harry's office had been a few days ago. "There are clean linens in the closet next to the bathroom. We can transfigure the armchairs into cots until we can come up with something more permanent."

"Come on kids." Harry said placing a comforting hand on each of their shoulders and leading them down the hall. Harry stopped at the linen closet and got out some clean sheets while the kids continued into the bedroom. When Harry entered James was already stripping the sheets while Lily stood in the corner continuing to hug the bag close to her. Harry and James made the bed silently. When they were done Lily gave a big yawn.

"Go get ready for bed Lily." Harry said. It was still early but he could see how tired she was… how tired all of them were. Lily didn't protest, getting the pajama bottoms out of the bag she had been hugging and going across the hall to change in the bathroom.

"Here Dad." James said extending his hand. Harry took his offering curiously. It was six galleons and three sickles. "Tom gave me that for helping out. He said I could come back next weekend too if I wanted some extra spending money. I said I would have to talk to you first."

"I can't take your money James." Harry said offering the money back but James didn't take it. He looked at his father incredulously. Harry sighed before putting the money with his six sickles and five knuts. "Thank you."

Lily came back and quickly crawled onto the bed. James left now that the bathroom was free. Harry helped Lily get under the blankets and snuggled her in. The last time Harry had tried to tuck her in she had complained that she was too old to get tucked in, that had been four years ago. She didn't protest this time.

"Will you tell me a bedtime story Dad?" Lily asked. Harry smiled tucking one of her stray hairs away from her face. Telling their children bedtime stories was some of Ginny and Harry's fondest memories. They would sometimes argue about who's turn it was. Harry usually won since his job required late nights, sometimes coming home long after the kids bedtimes. "Which one do you want to hear?"

"The one with the little girl and the diary." Lily said. "I think that was mum's favorite." Harry's smile faltered a little. Ginny did tell that story to their children often, not because she enjoyed the story but because she wanted to make sure they did not repeat her mistakes. It was a harsh reality check for Harry.

"Okay." Harry said. "There once was a little girl who was very excited about going to Hogwarts for the first time. All her siblings had gone and told her marvelous things about the castle and all the adventure they had. But the little girl was nervous about making new friends. She had never been very good at making friends. When she told her mother this her mother reassured her that everything would turn out just fine. When it came time to go to Hogwarts the little girl found a diary tucked into one of her school books. Thinking that her mother had given it to her she began writing in it. She didn't expect it when the diary began writing back."

Harry continued the story even when James came back into the room. James settled into the bed and listened as well. He had heard this story many times as a child but it had been a long time since his mother or father had told him a bed time story.

"With the basilisk slain and the diary destroyed the little girl and the boy who saved her grabbed the tail feathers of the phoenix and flew out of the chamber together." Harry finished. Lily's eyes were closed and her breathing had become slow and steady. She was asleep. James, however, was not.

"You and mum always stop the story there." James said softly not wanting to wake his sister. "You never say that they lived happily ever after. The little girl still doesn't have any friends. How can there be a happy ending for the little girl after something so horrible happening to her?"

"Your right." Harry said recognizing the question for what it really was. "It's hard to get past some things. But as long as that little girl keeps moving forward the nightmares will fade. She will make friends that will stand by her side through all of her hardships. And who's to say she doesn't eventually fall in love with the boy who saved her and live happily ever after."

"Because that's not the way life works Dad." James said before rolling over, ending the conversation. And at the moment Harry couldn't contradict him because more then ever he wanted his wife to be waiting in the next room for him but she wasn't and she would never be again. Happily ever after for the little girl and the boy who saved her didn't exist.

Harry turned off the light and closed the door behind him. He stood with his back pressed against the door for a few minutes letting silent tears fall. How was he going to do this without Ginny? She was his rock whenever things got too hard. She was his voice of reason when ever he came up with stupid ideas that could get him killed. She was always awake when Harry came home after those late missions covered in cuts and bruises, helping him heal before the kids woke up.

Harry's heart clenched as he thought about his children, more specifically, the son who wasn't behind that door. He and Albus may not have been on the greatest of terms at the moment but now Harry would never be able to figure out how to make it right between them. Ginny and Albus were both gone.

Wiping his eyes, Harry entered the kitchen/living area of the apartment. He did not care if Remus knew that he was crying, it was not Remus he needed to stay strong for. Remus was sitting in the kitchen with two mugs of something hot in front of him. Harry already knew what it was; hot chocolate.

"I don't think I've ever heard that bed time story before." Remus commented as Harry sat down.

"You heard that?" Harry said feeling a little uncomfortable at what Remus may have heard.

"Thin walls." Remus shrugged looking a little sheepish. "Sorry." Harry took his wand out and put up a privacy ward. He did not need his children to hear everything Remus and he discussed.

"It wasn't a story." Harry sighed blowing on the hot chocolate to cool it down a little. "It was all true." Remus looked shock, worried and curious all at once. "They don't know it of course, but the diary, the basilisk, the phoenix, it's all real. Their mother always told them that story in hopes that they would learn from her mistakes."

"Merlin," Remus commented. "Something like that should never happen to any child. Do you plan on changing it?"

Harry shook his head taking a sip of the hot chocolate. It was the perfect temperature and did make Harry fell a little better. "That year made my wife into who she was, made her stronger, made me stronger… gave us the strength to do what we would have to do in the future. Even if I could change it, I wouldn't. It's a mote point anyway. It happened two month ago."

"Right now my future wife is afraid to go to sleep. Afraid that when she wakes up she'll be covered in her families blood. Meanwhile, Harry Potter is having nightmares about giant snakes and shadows with red eyes." Remus stayed silent but continued to look horrified at the thought of an eleven year old being possessed and a twelve year old fighting a basilisk on his own.

"So far you have asked me to help you protect your children, told me the ministry is corrupt and act as if killing a basilisk on your own at the age of twelve to save your future wife is not the most traumatizing thing you have experienced." Remus broke the silence. "I'm starting to think I need some more details of exactly what the future holds."

"He didn't die that night." Harry explained simply. "The night He killed my parents was just the first move in a game that Fate put me in. A game, it seems, that Fate wants me to play over again only this time the stakes are a lot higher." Harry glanced down the hallway toward his sleeping children.

"Wars are easy to win if you already know how to beat the other team." Remus said stoically trying to processes the return of a nightmare. "If you stop him from coming back there is no war, if you imprison his allies or make them yours to begin with he has no legs to stand on." Harry considered his words for a moments but shook his head in defeat.

"Some battles have to be lost in order for a different battle to be won and a better future to be built." Harry thought about all the progress the Ministry made to keep corruption from taking over, all the precautions that Harry's generation put in place so that another Voldemort would never be. "This war is larger than just Voldemort and it can happen now or in a few decades with some other dark lord but it will happen. What I know is that this generation is smart enough, strong enough, and has the will to see it through."

"So you don't plan on changing anything?" Remus asked still trying to process this new information. Harry sat silently for a few moment sipping his drink before answering.

"If you would have asked me a week ago… what would you change if you could do it all over again… my response would have been 'nothing'. There are a lot of things that I regretted about my life Remus, but not once have I ever regretted where it ended up. The lives that were lost, the homes that were destroyed meant something because in the end we won. It took me a long time to come to terms with that after the war."

"I love my wife. I love all three of my children. I am proud of the legacy I have left behind and continue to forge." Harry continued. "And I know that one small detail, one stroke of luck that didn't come my way, could have changed all of that. I don't want to change anything Remus," Harry paused for moment thinking about all the lives lost in the war, including the man in front of him, then whispered, "but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try."

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please read and review. Been working a lot on this story which means the next chapter is already done. Hoping to get this one out of my system so that I can continue my work on Fred's story. If you haven't read Meddling With Time: Weasley Edition you should check it out... A lot of people seem to like it.


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